Gravity Falls: 10 Years Later - A Retrospective

[Music] ah summer break so do you want cheese on that hun a time for leisure recreation and taking her easy unless you're me i'm just watching gravity falls again god 10 years eight since i started actually watching the show but yeah gravity falls officially turns 10 this month it's no secret to viewers of this channel that this show means a lot to me it means a lot to millions of people actually through all the mysteries and eldritch horrors alex search's beloved kids cartoon was a show that profoundly impacted many even beyond that i'd go as far as to call it one of the most important cartoons of its time and helped establish the early 2010s as a new semi-renaissance for animation it was a show anyone of any age could sit down and watch without feeling alienated or pandered to it struck the perfect balance of entertainment for kids and entertainment for adults and most importantly told a timeless story about growing up in general and its impact is still felt throughout the industry today of its spirit being present in many of the newer and still really good plot-driven disney shows that have since taken its place like amphibia and the owl house there was a culture to fall in gravity falls as it was airing that other cartoons couldn't even touch it was a show that thrived on its mysteries and entrusted its viewers to crack all the secret codes at the end of every episode all of the codes hidden within episodes etc the number of theories produced as the fanbase as part of their major investment in the world and its characters desperately tried to think one step ahead of the show's writers and predict what could possibly happen next it's not something exclusive to gravity force's fan base but there was really nothing quite like the community the show had garnered the show actively toyed with people playing into the fear rises in its audience it was telling its story near flawlessly with its limited amount of episodes while simultaneously giving the fandom a wealth of food for thoughts and moments with so many possible implications to theorize about with just one new episode and this is all pertaining to the show's lore and these secret secrets not even mentioning the big questions of the story that would act as one of the main reasons why the show remained as popular as it was what is stan hiding who is bill cipher who wrote the journals these were massive story hooks of answers that were planned far ahead of time whereas some shows these days may write their stories as they go along with little planning often resulting in the plot feeling rushed undercooked and unsatisfying gravity falls was probably planned from the very beginning it has an ending it ties up the vast majority of its loose ends in a satisfying and rewarding way if you search gravity falls theory on google or youtube you will be traveling down one of the deepest rabbit holes of online fandom discussion in recent memory nothing compares to it even after the show ended fans showed their sheer dedication passion and love for the show and what they had created with the now well-known cipher hunt but that's a whole can of worms in and of itself that has been covered a lot rest assured though this sheer amount of planning and overall thought that went into this hunt helped to reinforce the show's legacy as something much more than a simple kids show and its mere existence is proof of just how much the show impacted so many people and kept them engaged with its mysteries even ignoring the mysteries of the show and watching it as a piece of entertainment the writing was exceptionally sharp with a number of adult jokes almost rivaling the number of family friendly ones making a very well-rounded viewing experience and outside of the joke department setup and payoff was something gravity folds had mastered it competently introduced the crux of the problem for the episode carefully built up toward a more action-oriented climax and delivered a satisfying payoff it sounds like storytelling fundamentals but the show was consistent with making each episode even the weaker ones satisfying it's very telling that when the weakest episode of a show is still considered good when held up to the standards of televised storytelling it's safe to say the writers know what they're doing and are exceptionally good at it heck even towards the finale of the series where they're running out of episodes quickly and you think they might just buckle under the weight of expectations the show somehow manages to make each plot revelation feel natural and satisfying despite being somewhat rushed but above all else above the well-written plot the sharp wit the perfect story hooks and mysteries gravity falls was a show about growing up the illusion of a never-ending summer that shapes your life forever before the illusion breaks as the days draw nearer and you're faced with the reality that you've just experienced the last true horror of your childhood as you face the world's growing teens to young adults i could spend hours of my life gushing about every detail of this show and what it does right and i'm doing that to an extent just considerably condensed always a rewrite never a save ass in celebration of this wonderful show i intend to go in depth over what i've briefly talked about as well as what the show means to me as someone who grew up watching its painfully short but also perfectly condensed two seasons the genius simplicity yet compellingly complex storytelling the ingeniously crafted mysteries that established the show's legacy and capping it off of what this show means to me and many others as we grew up with our beloved characters i'm probably gonna get weirdly sentimental and biased but i hope you can forgive me for that [Music] gravity force's story contrary to what some may think is actually incredibly simple when you look at a surface level the writers do a tremendous job of not letting the story get too sidetracked with subplots or characters outside of the main cast the show has a lot of what some would call filler episodes i.e episodes that don't significantly impact the story or push the main plot forward however i never saw them like that the concept of a filler episode implies that in the grand scheme of things the episode you're watching is practically meaningless since it has little to no impact on the story and its entire existence is because we need to fill out the number of episodes that have been ordered by the network it fills in space gravity falls for all intents and purposes doesn't have filler the vast majority of its episodes aren't concerned with the overarching story but that doesn't mean they count as filler as they serve a different purpose plenty of gravity forces world building and character development stems from these episodes and i think something that goes largely unappreciated these days i'll just blame this one on anime if you don't mind is watching the characters establish a firm bond between each other without there having to be a life or death situation all the time sometimes in the story's best interest and to make sure the big dramatic story beats after emotional impact it's important to show these characters enjoying life learning important lessons going on stupid adventures and learning more about themselves season 2 episode 8 probably didn't need to give us the bank story soos a mostly comic relief character up to this point but they went there going into his father's abandonment and also recontextualizing every moment in the series prior where he views stan as a father figure season 2 episode 13 could have ditched the entire plot about dungeons and dragons parody and focus on the brief bit of story we get at the end but if it did that we would have never seen dipper and ford become as close as they did or realize how much they have in common which would have severely neutered the impact of the finale and future episodes where they work together hell you can pick up basically every non-story important episode and see that while not all of them have the most compelling character development they all share the same purpose of creating believable characters with believable relationships it's just fun to watch these characters go on goofy adventures a lot instead of being constantly tortured it's those disconnected episodes that grant the very best of the show's catalog the emotional impact they require when someone asks me hey i want to get into gravity falls can you list all the filler episodes i should avoid i feel just a little bit of pain inside you'd be missing out on so many golden episodes if you did that but you'd also be missing the crucial context that allows the show to become as great as it is and just because these episodes don't directly influence the plot doesn't mean they have no value as said secret messages we'll tackle that soon however even though these non-story focused episodes are great it is valid to critique the show for having a few of them be bunched up in the final stretch of the show something i and many people have given shows like star vs the forces of evil [ __ ] for these episodes aren't bad by any means stencher in canada is incredibly funny and it's not like their inclusion negatively impacted the show's final episodes but you can definitely feel the weight of everything the show has built up being balanced extremely carefully over 20 minutes and i think it would have been smarter to spend more time on the main plot towards the ending outside of the filler episodes though gravity falls is a fantastic main plot it's brilliant in the sense that despite being seemingly complex and there's plenty of implied lore none of it is actually a required reading nor does it need to be completely understood to get what's going on i actually own the real life journal free that was on sale a few years ago and the amount of lore and extra content is held within this thing is insane it certainly enhances the show when you rewatch it but it's not required that you understand all of it all of these pieces of world building scattered throughout the show like the dinosaurs underground the entire valley of gravity falls being formed by a crashed alien ship the entire concept of the multiverse beyond ford's portal and what he experienced over his 30 years away from earth these are explored yes but they don't take up more time than needed and the information received through them is much more condensed they serve as ways to make the story feel much more alive with all of these different worlds and events and vaguely explained mysteries to create a world that's incredibly intriguing to analyze when you look at it through these lens gravity full seems incredibly complex for a kids show the reason why so many people beg for a third season of the show is because they feel like there is so much more that can be done with this intricately layered world that they created so many more stories that could be told however that's not entirely necessary the show is focused on telling a condensed comprehensive but still impactful narrative they leave these details here as fun things to think about and theorize about but they never let the main goal be clouded in a mess of complicated lore stuff which is something that's really hard for all the shows to do when they go on for much longer to gravity falls there's all this external lore stuff that can make getting into the show for like a daunting task of a story that's intimidatingly dense it can sometimes be plain irresistible for a writer to not explore these possible what ifs to add incredible amounts of context to a story of all these branching storylines and pieces of lore some people love that stuff they love getting into a series that has a complicated story that makes sense when you piece it all together and there's nothing inherently wrong with it but sometimes when you have a clear goal in mind and sometimes when you have a story that you want anyone to enjoy sometimes less is more and gravity full seems to understand that better than any show i've seen there's only 40 episodes two seasons it's a perfectly condensed piece of entertainment and a pure triumph in television writing writing for television is very difficult there's only so much you can do in 20 or 40 minutes compared to something like a feature-length film and you have to learn how to pace yourself and your storytelling maybe the show would have benefited from a third season you can't say for sure but i think it would have hurt the novelty of gravity falls short but sweet run time it's a series of a clear beginning middle and end that you can watch roughly over the course of a weekend if you're committed enough and the story it tells in that short length works and has its impact because you noted this story you're engaged with is not going to last forever let's actually talk about the content of this story i've been praising now season one is fairly straightforward it's a season that mostly consists the show's more slice of lifey episodes as they introduce plots and characters that will be brought up in future episodes while giving different mabel the sometimes terrifying but most enjoyable summer experiences of their lives all the while solving the town's many mysteries that is until the last two episodes of the season from this point forward the show becomes a lot more plot heavy still having enough room for slice of life moments but from here to the overarching story truly gets going episode 19 dreamscapers introduces bill cipher no doubt if you have not watched gravity falls you have probably already been exposed to bill in some capacity he's regularly listed as one of disney's greatest villains in recent memory and it's fascinating because when you watch the show he is barely around for about seven episodes out of forty and this speaks volumes as to just how impactful he was that his presence was felt constantly throughout season two despite only showing up around two times before the finale in dreamscapers we are finally given our first proper antagonist besides gideon who despite having some menace was still mainly a comic relief villain bill was delightfully odd a shape-shifting psychopath of an instantly recognizable voice and design and despite his playfulness was always threatening whenever he was on screen is the fact that he's used sparingly that helps him retain that novelty he is an all-powerful all-knowing dream demon and his plans for the future are briefly foreshadowed at the end of dreamscapers there's so much uncertainty and speculation that surrounds this character and ultimately the show's plot engagement lives and dies by his involvement and you're left wondering when he'll show up again or what his plan is he is an integral part of the show and it would not be the same without him even if they had a different villain fill in the role bill's plan is to enact weirdmageddon an apocalypse event where bill would inhabit a new dimension to escape his decaying one that he's been bound to for trillions of years gideon brings up how the way to bring about this apocalypse is through obtaining all the journals and at the end of the episode we see stan is now in possession of all of them as he activates a portal below the mystery shack for every answer you get in gravity fools you receive another bundle of questions that leave you hooked for the rest of the season it's a masterfully done setup and payoff and it's always consistent season 2 charges into the story content with confidence setting itself the huge task of solving every mystery the show has tying up all of its loose ends while it doesn't solve all of the questions it provides answers for all the ones that matter and in satisfying fashion what gravity falls really boils down to is setup and payoff a storytelling fundamental they managed to make seem effortless with their use of it season 2 episode 11 not what he seems is far and away the show's best episode it's an absolutely perfect culmination of what the show has been building up to thus far and it works because you've seen these characters grow close over the course of the summer you've watched them face supernatural entities you've watched them overcome hardships and grow as people and you've watched their mystery solving for a full season and a half the reason why different maples upset confusion and frustration at their uncle for lying to them for so long unsure of who he even really is or what he's been doing for the portal the reason why this episode feels so tense and impactful it's all because you've spent nearly a full summer watching them grow these aren't just cartoon characters anymore they're people real believable people the second half of season two introduces stanford stanley's twin brother and the author of the journals if there's one thing you'll criticize about gravity fools it has to be forward bill cipher made sense of how it was used sparingly but ford is barely present which is a shame because he's one of my favorite characters his backstory will stand as heartbreaking and tragic and seeing them act distant from each other over their own mistakes is rough and it also sets up the next part of dipper mabel's arc which i'll talk about more in another section of the video the rest of the season is a race against time to stop bill from enacting his plans learning more about ford's history with bill along the way when weirdmageddon finally happens it's the true culmination of everything that has happened thus far ties are mended evil is stopped and sacrifices are made i don't want to go too in detail about the plot as it has been done many times before but i want to stress just how good the show is at bringing closure and satisfaction to its story beats again setup and payoff the fact that a story of this scale can be told so well for such precision over two seasons of television is frankly incredible it tells a simple and easy to follow story while giving you a ton of food for thought i'm not done discussing the plot if you think i'm wrapping this section up rather abruptly it's important that i save the rest for later [Music] take a shot whenever i say mystery in this video by the way the community that gravity falls created was unlike any other cartoon and it was largely thanks to it being the perfect show to theorize about mystery is at the heart of gravity force and ever since the very first episode it has been actively toying with us it's not just talking about the times the show threw us a bone that led to a new answer and brought forth a plethora of other questions to discuss but rather the more secrety side of it all gravity falls is filled to the brim of secret codes and easter eggs in every episode all of which helped keep the discussion of the show chugging along as they referenced future events or small pieces of a much larger puzzle or were simply just small jokes i mean come on this was my first time ever being cucked by something i was 10 alex season 1 was mostly filled with little jokes but season 2 upped the ante by tenfold over the course of the series fans slowly but surely began to crack each individual code through figuring out which cipher they could be translated through most notably the a1z26 cipher basically the english alphabet with substituting the right letter of the alphabet with its given numerical place so a is 1 and z is 26. the caesar cipher the alphabet by having his letter placements changed by a certain number and the at-bash cipher which is just the alphabet in reverse however there are plenty more ciphers like the opera symbols found in journal 3 the combined cipher the vigenere cipher which in season 2 would then be applied to the start of all the combined ciphers you could find and then with the sheer number of hidden codes of the equivalent series it's i i sort of felt like i was back in 2014 for a second it's been years since i've actually talked about this stuff oh and also at the end of the show intro if you listen closely you can hear someone whispering in reverse this is actually different for every episode of the show and whatever is whispered will give people a clue as to what cipher is needed to decrypt the code god it's so cool except for word mcgidden that bill just calls you a nerd [Music] gravity falls actually has a few uses of backwards audio but not all of them are code related there was a tremendous amount of thought placed into each and every code in the show even if it was just for a throwaway joke but when you got those vague hints or cracked something cool oh man there was nothing quite like it it was this level of engagement the show's fans that led to the creation of such a devoted community a lot of shows have pockets of theorizers going in depth on small details on the shows they love but gravity falls was a case where the show actively embraced that side of its community and played along with them you had legions of fans who the second episode aired would run it back several times to catch anything they may have missed there's a small sequence in lovegod for example where a small message can be found over the course of a few seconds and someone literally found it mere minutes after the episode came out that was the kind of devotion you saw from the gravity falls fanbase this kind of stuff isn't just limited to the show either even in the shorts the show had in between seasons 1 and 2 and even in the damn books there was this constant effort to keep fans on their toes for clues even if the reward was just a nice message or a joke it helped keep the show thriving during the downtime between episodes and god did the show have some down time when it was airing holy crap it still hurts i think it would be a disservice to not mention one of the most highly theorized aspects of the show the bill cipher wheel is shown for a single frame at the end of the intro for every episode this is not only one of the show's most iconic visuals but it also foreshadows the usage of the wheel as bill's one true weakness that gets attempted use in the show's finale but for years people were trying to discern which symbol on the wheel represented each character after notice that somewhere easy to spot like dipper being the pine tree mabel being the shooting star and stan being the crescent it took years of theorizing because no one could actually hold on to a clear hypothesis as a few of the symbols didn't seem to be too literal until the finale came along i was like yeah you guys are dumb as hell wendy's the ice bag cause she's cool as [ __ ] a big reason why the show has so many secret codes and assisted with mystery and intrigue is largely because of alex hertz's experiences as a kid dipper is based on alex's memories and how it felt to be a kid how he would record himself and play it backwards to try and learn how to speak backwards carrying a bunch of cameras with him everywhere you can see a lot of that in dipper and it helps that you as a viewer of the show are solving the mysteries of gravity falls along with the characters it sells that feeling of being a kid and getting to uncover secrets not many have stumbled across yet if gravity falls was a straightforward show about stopping bill cipher's apocalypse it wouldn't be compelling cracking codes getting involved with each and every episode's plot and uncovering the secrets of the town that all leads up to an epic climax you can clearly see how every moving part of the show works perfectly together and creating a satisfying experience but more than that the mysteries of the show and the theorizing that came with them are part of its legacy because there really hasn't been a show let alone a cartoon that's had this kind of culture around it a community of nerds just getting a little more out of what was already a fantastic series and having to show itself play into it all by putting so much effort into these coats and ciphers while living a vast majority of dissolving up to the audience with very little handholding you didn't just watch gravity falls you were a part of it and it makes me a little sad that people who watch the show in the future won't get the same experience as everyone else did as it was airing unless they actively avoid spoilers which is pretty much impossible seeing as the show ended six years ago but all this mystery stuff brought an entire community together all of this all of this will forever be synonymous with the show and it ensures that it won't be forgotten so easily it's a testament to its legacy but that's not all but when we get in part three aired and concluded the show there was one last mystery to be solved and this would take the show from be one of disney's best cartoons to be one of the most respected and meticulously planned out tv shows ever made 2016's famous cipher hunt now the cipher hunt has already been covered a lot and there are a lot of great videos that go in depth on everything that happened but it's a crucial thing for me to mention so i'll make this as brief as i can at the end of where we get in part three we receive a glimpse of what looks to be the statue of bill cipher that we see in the show after he's defeated except this one was clearly filmed in live action and in an unknown area people immediately began to theorize that the statue must be somewhere in real life for people to find radio silence from anyone involved with gravity falls until july 20th 2016 where alex hirch officially confirms that the statue exists somewhere and begins the hunt alex has stated that he wanted to give fans one final mystery to solve and wants to do something that no show had ever done before a worldwide treasure hunt he attaches the following image and it doesn't take too long for it to be decoded showing that people had not gotten rusty in the five months since the show ended and were ready for one final game using a negative free caesar cipher in a nap bash cipher people decoded the red letters in the image as russia the middle left diagram was then identified as the cousin cathedral where the next clue was found this time hinting at japan mentioning a sword and crescent located at the kanda shrine in tokyo the next clue was found with a drawing of a sword and crescent along with an encrypted message that pointed to the next location being in atlanta georgia where a lost poster for waddles was found along with a cryptogram and a phone number to call if wattles was found this phone number would be a reversed message from grunkle stan who revealed the next clue was in a course of a university in rhode island it's um it's like a middle building in rhode island and you go up some stairs and there's going to be a bunch of pictures of none on the wall you've got to look behind one of the nun pictures sister mary hilda miley real real grouchy that nut it was disposed before the hunt began on accident so i can imagine alex was just a little stressed out that half a year of work was thrown off track but it was substituted for a new clue after he tweeted out a phone number containing a new message from stan revealing the next clue to be in los angeles where a golden stan head was found with an encoded message written in invisible ink yeah they were really pulling out all the starts for this hunt seriously every single skill used to solve the show's mysteries was being used to great effect here it's insanely impressive that this was executed as well as it was and it's why i think it's good to mention all these skills that been built out throughout the years are now being put to good use for one final reward anyway the message was decoded pointing to century city where fans were unexpectedly joined by jason ritter the voice of dipper pines and ariel herch alex's sister together they found a black pouch containing a usb stick with an audio file directly mentioning the location of the next clue while also featuring the ghost of sister mary hilda miley taunting grunkle stan about not finding the treasure after the university disposed of the original fourth clip get the vacuum cleaner yes sir mr my pines weakness a creative solution i'll be back you'll never find the treasure good job zeus have a chicken nugget anyway the next clue was located at cal arts where crudely drawn graffiti of bill cipher on a wall was found which contained a series of hexadecimal and decimal codes when decrypted the next clue pointed to piedmont california where a small chest was found and unlocked using the word pines the next two clues are actually closely linked the eighth clue was located at a usps post office in los angeles a key which opened a po box that contained a gigantic 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle and a bunch of stand box with the word phil brick was on the back in invisible ink this puzzle took several days to complete with many spending bloody night shifts on it because the puzzle took much longer than expected because alex searches the devil incarnate coach took to twitter so that people could digitally solve the puzzle using photoshop where after a few hours the message on the puzzle was decoded but while all of this was happening and the physical puzzle was still being put together someone just found the ninth clue by complete accident in portland oregon someone who had been keeping up with the hunt on twitter just came across a garden gnome like the one featured on the puzzle and found a viewmaster along with the ninth clue written on a piece of paper you cannot write this stuff if you tried if this essentially rendering the puzzle obsoletes a clue alex decided to give a reward for those who stuck through it and finished it he promised that he would release the unaired pilot of gravity falls made back in 2010. the puzzle was then completed by the 1st of august where alex came to greet everyone in person to congratulate them and promised there that he would release the unaired pilot jesus this man is good at improvising when [ __ ] hits the fan i'm actually really jealous the view master from the 9th clue had slides of the area around confusion hill a real-life tourist trap of octave of gravity voted mystery shack where using the word written on the back of the stand box an ivol jar could be retrieved the tenth clue written on the bottom in amity oregon fans found a geocache bolt of the 11th clue inside leading to the final clue in turner oregon at the enchanted forest amusement park and despite one family finding a message reading here lies the bones of a man named bill the clue itself was taken by a fan already who then uploaded the image of the final clue online and with the message decoded it says to return to where it all began and the answers written in the trees with the back of the clue containing a map and was actually a ripped off piece of the original cipherhunt image after a few days of confusion alex gave a tip to the hunters and reveal that a polybius square was required to find where bill was located as well as finding a pattern in the trees that could be converted to numbers are you still with me the branches and knots of the trees were decoded to read sport ore which basically assumption the last letters had to be an abbreviation for oregon the location of the statue was found at reedsport oregon with the statue being found in the 2nd of august with it containing a treasure chest full of goodies and a usb drive the drive contained a text document which seemingly did a little bit of trolling until opening it in notepad gave the word returned backwards to the past again free which when entered as a username and password on the mystery of gravityfalls.com pilots finally gave viewers access to the unaired of gravity falls pilots the final reward for a lengthy treasure hunt this was mainly me listening to stuff that happened and i recommend watching other videos that go more in depth because there was some crazy clever stuff done for this hunt but this hunt was much more than a simple fan event this was the culmination of years of hard work to reward the fans who were stuck by the show itself until the very end it made use of everything that made coat cracking gravity falls special and stretched the minds of fans to their absolute limits the cipher hunt is legendary for a reason no show has ever done an arg quite this elaborate it was a special experience for spec teachers participants and for fans across the world and it will forever be a part of a legacy that no disney show regardless of quality can come close to a perfect end to a show about mystery and secrets [Music] at its heart gravity falls is a series that preaches two things above all else growing up is difficult but inevitable but growing up doesn't mean you have to let go the show was conceived as a finite series about one epic summer with alex hurts going on record saying that there are so many shows that go on endlessly until they lose their original spark or mysteries that are canceled before they ever get a chance to pay off gravity falls being such a short but tightly written series of an actual conclusion was highly experimental especially for a show that aired on a disney network where shows live and die based on unexpected renewals and more often than not outright cancellations it's a miracle that disney was as supportive as they were with letting herch end the series on his own terms considering how successful the show was but this creative decision not only helped the writing and story since there was no worry of a cancellation so they could take more time with making the writing more precise it also emphasized the key feeling the show was always built around and made the series short length all the more impactful dipper and mabel began the series at the tail end of their tweets they are a mere three months away from turning 13 and having to face growing up as teenagers it's the fact that stares to both of them in the face as they spend the last summer of their childhood so to speak at gravity falls gravity falls itself represents the best aspects of dipper and mabel's childhoods they fully embrace it's a period of time that forever changes them gives them the opportunities to live out their wildest fantasies to make new friends to uncover secrets and facing supernatural evils it's one crazy chaotic but ultimately fun summer with the dreamy scenarios they face being mixed together with sweet summer nostalgia when removing the supernatural aspect the summer is still filled with as many pleasant and resonant memories that you yourself as a viewer could have similar experiences doing fishing with your older relatives going to the pool doing dumb stuff with friends it's also evocative of childhood while facing certain issues like having a crush going through puberty stuff like that gravity falls is the final hurrah of dipper mabel's youth and no matter how much fun they have they live in constant reminder of this we're getting older there's not that many halloweens left guess i didn't realize it was already our last one ah nobody likes getting older but just because you're growing up doesn't mean you have to grow up you know i just wish summer could last forever things aren't gonna stay frozen this way it's part of growing up things change summer ends a lot of people seem to be incredibly harsh on mabel for her reaction to different taking ford's apprenticeship and denying reality while refusing to grow up though i do believe that they should have executed the reality that bill created for her a lot better so she came off as less self-centered i never hated her for this dipper mabel versus the future is one of my favorite episodes of the show because to put it simply it's relatable to a fault mabel spends the episode having her plans for her 13th birthday crushed knowing her friends can't make it as her dreams and perception of growing up crushed over knowing what high school could be like and at the end of the episode after hearing about dipper taking ford's apprenticeship she realizes that as she leaves behind the best days of her childhood she's also losing her brother and closest friend it's a build up of emotions that a lot of people can relate to the entire episode drives home the fear many people had ever growing up as a kid which may get in part 2 takes place entirely within the reality bill concocted to grant mabel her one true desire to live in a constant state of summer that never ends with mabel eventually rejecting the reality with dipper's help with him swearing that whatever comes their way in life they'll face it together like they always have no she doesn't have to fear growing up on her own and all of this culminates in the show's finale we're gonna get in part three well on a surface level it's clear that dipper and mabel are working together with everyone they've met over the course of the summer to save gravity falls from bill's clutches it's also clear that it's their way of safeguarding their childhood and shows just how much this town has changed them what it means to them and after the fighting is done we come to the final scene last bust leaving gravity falls arrives and the twins say goodbye as they leave town to face the unknown future ahead of them however not without a little reminder the significance of this note cements the message that growing up doesn't mean you have to let go what made gravity falls so emotionally engaging for so many was not just because of the story and characters but because it was like saying goodbye to their childhood for the second time the show is built on memories of childhood the characters face relatable struggles that others face around the same age and experiencing this big crazy summer of these characters allows you to relive those years and look fondly on them and just like the summer itself you forget how short it really is and it's hard to accept that your time in gravity falls will be over soon but watching these characters face the difficulties of growing up in the fear of change the ending of the summer and having them basically tell the audience that it's okay it's a part of life but you don't have to let go of things as you age despite being a simple message on the surface is one that is executed with four years worth of sincerity and has an impact on all who watch it kids and adults it's no wonder then why so many people grown adults even found themselves tearing up as the bus finally drove into the horizon leaving gravity falls hell rewatching the show for this video i still cried at the ending speaking for myself here i was watching the show from age 10 to 12 starting in 2014 and ending in 2016 with the finale i was at just the right age for the ending to have an impact on me after going out of my way to watch every single episode getting involved with its community and solving the mysteries cracking codes theorizing about where the story would go what would happen when it all ended and what i would do when it ended i think a large portion of the fanbase are indeed adults given the wide generational appeal of the series and i think a lot of people don't really think about what it was like to be a kid while watching it i was around the same age as dipper and mabel as they were growing up i too had fears of going to high school fears about my future fears about growing up i had people left and right telling me that i was too old for things that i enjoyed like cartoons and comics and other things i would hyper fixate on and i'm not really sure i understood what growing up meant gravity falls was the perfect show for me to be engaged with at the time the weight of its already emotional ending made the way it taught its message that much more memorable and impactful it's one thing to just teach kids something important about life but backed up with good storytelling that you remain engaged with for years on end that's how you allow a piece of entertainment to communicate its core message naturally over time and i think it's safe to say that i certainly grew up going on 18 and about a month from when this video was published but i never let go of the things i loved and the things i loved doing well obviously some of them but i kept a good majority of my hobbies over time and in some ways allowed them to develop into something more mature like making reviews collecting stuff etc etc my love for this series has never been a secret it's sometimes been apparent that it's negatively affected my bias as a critic when looking at stuff like amphibia and the owl house two really really good shows that i originally didn't give the fairest chance i guess that stuff just changes as you grow up you mellow out but i always held on to what i loved and in all all that's why after 10 long years since the first aired on a good eight since i first fell in love with it i'll never let go of my love for gravity fools [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music]

Channel: Cartoonshi シ

Views: 443,904

Keywords: Gravity Falls, Disney XD, Disney Channel, Disney, Alex Hirsch, Cartoon, Cartoons, Cartoonshi, Video Essay, Retrospective, 10 Years Later, ten years, anniversary, criticism, review, animation, TV, television, entertainment, rant, Bill Cipher, Dipper Pines, Mabel Pines, stop, looking, at, my, tags, Grunkle Stan, Journal 3, theory, The Owl House, Amphibia, legacy, mystery, 2012

Id: F8ZMuJqHDQc

Length: 35min 3sec (2103 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 03 2022